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SG Home buying interest shifts to ECs

Property Here - Friday, August 16, 2013

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Aside from the big drop in sales of new private homes in July, data released Thursday by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) also showed a trend of shifting interest towards executive condominiums (ECs), said media reports.

ECs accounted for 18.9 percent or 112 units out of the 593 units moved last month, even though no new EC projects were launched.

In comparison, transaction volumes for June showed that 313 ECs were sold from a total of 2,119 units. This represents just 14.8 percent of overall sales, even though 600 EC units were launched during that period.

Nicholas Mak, SLP International's Executive Director of Research and Consultancy, said “this illustrates that the TDSR framework has shifted some home-buying demand, especially among HDB upgraders, to the EC projects”.

However, R'ST Research Director Ong Kah Seng said there has always been strong demand for ECs, but the noticeable shift into that segment may be an indication of “possible increasing practicality by home buyers” in response to the cooling measures and TDSR.

“Buyers are increasingly cautious, favouring cost-effective options in case prices of suburban private homes falls, considering the record high prices (achieved thus far), and risks from rising interest rates... Those who are eligible to purchase new ECs may increasingly favour it, and buyers who do not need a very large condominium unit will go for an optimum-sized unit,” he added.